The Ninth Biennial Virginia Garrett Lectures on the History of Cartography October 16-17, 2014 UT Arlington Central Library

Pulitzer Prize winner Glenn Frankel, author of the recent bestseller, “The Searchers: The Making of an American Legend,” will take part in a two-day symposium on Cynthia Ann and Quanah Parker in the spring. The symposium will take place on two consecutive days, April 17-18, in the Sixth Floor Parlor of the Main Library.

On Thursday, April 17, at 12:30 p.m., F. Todd Smith (University of North Texas) and Joaquín Rivaya-Martínez (Texas State University) will examine the lives of Cynthia Ann Parker and Quanah Parker in the larger context of nineteenth century Comanche-Anglo relations.

On Friday, April 18, at noon, Frankel, Randi Tanglen (Austin College), and Dustin Tahmahkera (Southwestern University) will examine the ways in which these events have been portrayed in popular culture, focusing on the captivity narrative in American literature and film. Professor Frankel, who is chair of the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, will discuss his book, a history of the Parker Raid in 1836 and its development as an iconic western by director John Ford featuring John Wayne, at a Friends of the Library meeting at 7:30 p.m. that evening (see page 4 for a review of the book).

All events will be free and open to the public.

In conjunction with the symposium, the Center will bring to campus the photographic exhibit, “The Story of Cynthia Ann and Quanah Parker,” a collection of 45 photographs on loan from the Texas Lakes Trail Heritage Program, and will be held in the Library Parlor from April to May, 2014.

William deBuys, author of seven books on the environment, will deliver a lunchtime presentation on his most recent book, A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest (Oxford University Press, 2012). Often mentioned alongside such authors as John McPhee and Wallace Stegner, Bill deBuys is a scholar who speaks and writes with passion about environmental stewardship. In A Great Aridness, deBuys ranges from Las Vegas to Mesa Verde to the Glen Canyon Dam as he examines the implications of a drier future for the American Southwest. His work transcends the regional, however. For example, his work also examines the U.S.-Mexico border, the dependence of both countries on the Colorado River, and its implications for the ongoing immigration debate. DeBuys explains why we should care about these places, and asks us to consider the national and international importance of climate change in the Southwest.

De Buys’s earlier works include Enchantment and Exploitation: The Life and Hard Times of a New Mexico Mountain Range (University of New Mexico Press, 1985); River of Traps (University of New Mexico Press, 1990), which was recognized as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and was one of three finalists for the Pulitzer Prize in general non-fiction in 1991; Salt Dreams: Land and Water in Low-Down California (University of New Mexico Press, 1999); and Seeing Things Whole: the Essential John Wesley Powell (Shearwater Press, 2001). DeBuys is currently working on a book of the Southwest’s most iconic sites, such as Acoma, the Grand Canyon, and Carlsbad Caverns.

A graduate of UT Arlington, Dominic Bracco II now works as a photojournalist based in Mexico City. His collection of thirty photographs, “Life and Death in the Northern Pass,” present a poignant and moving portrait of Ciudad Juárez, a city that has been especially hard hit by Mexico’s drug wars. Bracco’s photographs have been exhibited in London and Washington D.C., and published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Texas Monthly, among others. He has been honored with a Pictures of the Year International Award and received a grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.

John Burnett“Covering the War Next Door” October 21, 2011, 7 p.m. Central Library, Sixth Floor Atrium

John Burnett will discuss his reporting from the front lines of the Drug Wars, drawing upon his extensive coverage of the subject for National Public Radio. He will explore the social consequences for Mexico and the United States of the drug war, which last year resulted in the deaths of more than 3,000 in Ciudad Juarez alone. His lecture will complement the Dominic Bracco photo exhibit, “Life and Death in the Northern Pass,” which documents the devastating effects of drug trafficking violence along the Texas-Mexico border and will be on display on the 6th floor of the library during the fall.

Based in Austin, Burnett is a reporter for National Public Radio, where he has worked since 1986. Although he has covered major news stories around the world and at home, including war zones in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and Hurricane Katrina, he specializes on the issues and people of the Southwest United States and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. His reports are heard regularly on NPR’s award-winning news magazines Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition.

The impact of drug trafficking on Mexican music, film, and other forms of entertainment are the focus of “Narco Cultura,” a documentary by photo journalist and film-maker Shaul Schwarz. Based in New York City, Schwarz is a contract photographer for Time magazine. He has covered crises in Africa, Haiti, and the Middle East. In addition to Time, his work has appeared in such major international publications as National Geographic, Newsweek, and the New York Times. “Narco Cultura” is Schwarz’s second documentary. Although the film is not scheduled for release until February, 2012, Schwarz will discuss and show clips of his work, the product of two and a half years of research.